Thursday, June 25, 2015

Google to Open New Data Center in Alabama - The New York Times

Recycle different

"While there is considerable irony in taking over a coal-burning plant and promoting alternative power, there are pragmatic reasons Google would want to put this data center, its seventh in the United States, in such a facility. These are typically large and solid structures, clearly with good power lines, but also access to lots of water, which Google uses for cooling its computers. The Alabama plant is next to a reservoir on the Tennessee River. There are also rail lines into the facility, which makes it likely Google can access buried conduits along the tracks to run fiber-optic cable.

In Finland, Google rehabilitated a paper mill, and uses seawater for cooling. Salt water is corrosive for standard metal pipes, of course, so Google created a singular cooling system using plastic pipes."